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. 2015 Mar;48(3):318-25.
doi: 10.1016/j.amepre.2014.10.011. Epub 2014 Dec 10.

A cost-effectiveness analysis of the first federally funded antismoking campaign

Xin Xu  1 , Robert L Alexander Jr  2 , Sean A Simpson  3 , Scott Goates  4 , James M Nonnemaker  3 , Kevin C Davis  3 , Tim McAfee  2
Affiliations

A cost-effectiveness analysis of the first federally funded antismoking campaign

Xin Xu et al. Am J Prev Med. 2015 Mar.

Abstract

Background: In 2012, CDC launched the first federally funded national mass media antismoking campaign. The Tips From Former Smokers (Tips) campaign resulted in a 12% relative increase in population-level quit attempts.

Purpose: Cost-effectiveness analysis was conducted in 2013 to evaluate Tips from a funding agency's perspective.

Methods: Estimates of sustained cessations; premature deaths averted; undiscounted life years (LYs) saved; and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) gained by Tips were estimated.

Results: Tips saved about 179,099 QALYs and prevented 17,109 premature deaths in the U.S. With the campaign cost of roughly $48 million, Tips spent approximately $480 per quitter, $2,819 per premature death averted, $393 per LY saved, and $268 per QALY gained.

Conclusions: Tips was not only successful at reducing smoking-attributable morbidity and mortality but also was a highly cost-effective mass media intervention.

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Conflict of interest statement

None of the authors have conflicts of interest

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Long-term successful quits as a result of the Tips campaign.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Decision tree for impact of the 2012 Tips campaign on successful quits. aSee Figure 1 for derivation of estimated 6.1% successful quit rate as reported in McAfee et al.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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